The Crucible Notes

Abigail put on an act, mimicking Mary Warrens every move as though her spirit was possessing the girls and could be found guilty of witchcraft. “Suddenly, from an accusatory attitude, her face turns, looking into the air above—it is truly frightened. ‘What is it, child?’ ‘I—I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come.’ Her eyes fall on Mary Warren. ‘Abby!’ ‘Your Honor, I freeze!’ ‘They’re pretending!’… ‘Mary, do you send this shadow on me?’ ‘Lord, save me!’” (Miller p. 108-109). Abigail uses this in order to draw attention away from Danforth questioning if Abigail is only seeing illusions and not true spirits. Abigail uses the idea of witchcraft to repeatedly cover up her affair with John as well as uses it to an advantage to complete the envious attempt to kill

During the trials, Mary follows Abigail’s lead and claims that she sees spirits, when in actuality she did not. When Abigail faints or cries out, the girls faint or cry out. Mary tries to stand up to Abigail and prove to the judges that she is lying. During Mary’s testimony, Abigail asks “Mary, do you send this shadow on me?” (Miller 101) This shows that Abigail is accusing Mary of witchcraft. Under pressure of being hanged, Mary decides to side with Abigail again.

"There is nothin' more. I swear it, uncle," Abigail promises when Reverend Parris questions her further. Abigail's fervent lies show that she is determined to persuade her uncle and everyone else that she has been wronged. The author also intends to use this quote to show that Abigail has no qualms with lying. When Betty suddenly becomes conscious again and attempts to expose Abigail for the liar that she is, Abigail reacts violently. Abigail "smashes her across the face" and screams, "Shut it! Now shut it!" This reaction shows how far Abigail is willing to go to continue the ruse and convince everyone that she has done nothing wrong. Many of Abigail's lines are short phrases that are very blunt and to the point because Miller intends for her character to embody a person who was cunning and deliberate in deceiving others. At the end of Act I, Abigail begins to claim that she wants to go back to God. "I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil," Abigail cries after Hale begs Tituba to tell him who she saw with the Devil. This

“ Gabriel: ‘Oh, yeah… I know it. The devil’s strong. The devil ain’t no pushover. Hellhounds snipping at everybody’s heels. But I

Both the reader and Goodman Brown begin to realize that no ordinary man can entice the strong in faith from the path of from righteousness unless he is the devil. Furthermore, the

For instance, Abigail’s line to Betty, “Your mother is dead and buried,” can be perceived as something said out of pity in the text; as opposed to the film, where the cruel and cold tone of her voice is evident. Furthermore, The film exaggerates Abigail’s sinister and manipulating nature to eliminate anyone who interferes with what she wants. This is depicted in the film in multiple scenes, such as her accusation of witchcraft against Reverend Hale’s wife once he began showing opposition towards her; her attempts to persuade John Proctor into thinking she is victimized, as well as her attempt to persuade him into abandoning Salem together and boarding a ship. All of these scenes, absent from the text, exhibits Abigail’s psychosis, desperation, and the exceeding lengths she is willing to go through to get her

Sunday after church, James tossed the car key to Henry and told him to drive Mother and me home. Henry’s eyes beamed. He’d been able to drive for a while, but Daddy had never let him use the car, and James had done all the driving since Daddy passed. Henry had complained often, but James would shake his head and tell him he wasn’t ready. I wondered what had suddenly changed.

“The Devil came to me and bid me to serve him”, A woman named confessed to serving the Devil.

Around the middle of the play Abigail takes action and accused Elizabeth to be a witch and

Abigail is crude, selfish, manipulative, and an incredible liar. Throughout Acts I and II, Abby’s goal becomes quite clear to the audience. Abigail seems to be uniquely gifted at spreading lies and misery wherever she goes. She tends to manipulate others and gain control over them to get her ideal outcomes. After the adults leave the room Abby yells at the girls, who were also caught dancing in the woods, that “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it… I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!” She exemplifies her short-tempered and abusive side by threatening the girls if they dare to say a word. Due to Abby’s frenzy of emotions, she quickly transforms herself into the ringleader when she riles up the girls into accusing everyone they do not like as witches. Abigail creates an atmosphere of fear

So, after the news that Abigail and the other girls’ outlandish actions begins to spread like a wildfire, the hysteria in the community take over. Abigail only contributes to the hysteria by telling lie after lie just to cover up her wrongdoings. Abigail is dreading telling the truth, which has triggered hysteria to a dangerous level that otherwise, would not have been achieved.

During this essay I will introduce the main points involved in answering the proposed question. I will explore the certain aspects of Abigail’s personality and how it is an important role in portraying her reasons for her actions. I will also analyse the ways in which Abigail’s personality changes through the progression of the play. I will sum up which points have a bigger effect on her intentions and motivations and the effect she has on the characters of the play. I will support my reasons with quotations to justify its relevance.

sour. Abigail was an orphan and all. She used her body to get things or people